Penthwell Dog Training

29/08/2026

🐾👃 LAST SPACE REMAINING! 👃🐾

Have you ever wondered just how incredible your dog’s nose really is?

We have ONE final space available on our next 3-week Introduction to Scent Detection Course!

📅 Starts Saturday 5th September
📍 Penthwell Farm, West Oxfordshire

No previous experience is needed and scent detection is suitable for dogs of all ages and breeds — including dog-reactive dogs.

Dogs work individually, so they don’t need to be comfortable working alongside other dogs. This makes scent work a great option for dogs who might find a traditional group class environment difficult.

👉 Why try scent detection?

Scent work taps into one of your dog’s most natural and powerful abilities. It provides fantastic mental stimulation and enrichment, while helping to:

🐾 Build confidence and independence
🐾 Improve focus and problem-solving
🐾 Give busy, energetic dogs an appropriate outlet
🐾 Encourage dogs to slow down and use their brains
🐾 Build teamwork and strengthen your relationship
🐾 Give you a fun activity you can practise almost anywhere!

And the lovely thing about scent work?

Your dog doesn’t need to be the fastest, most obedient or most athletic dog in the room.

Every dog already has the equipment — we simply teach you how to work together. ❤️

Come and step into your dog’s world of scent. 👃🐾

More info and booking options :
🔗 https://www.penthwelldogtraining.co.uk/service-page/sniff-and-seek-2?referral=service_list_widget

Any questions? Just send us a message or email us to [email protected]

26/08/2026

🐾 Happy International Dog Day 2026! 🐾

It probably won’t come as a surprise that this is a day I’m very happy to celebrate! ❤️🐶

I feel incredibly lucky that dogs are such a huge part of both my work and my life.

As a dog (and people! 😉) trainer, I get to help dogs and their humans understand one another better, learn new skills, build confidence and, most importantly, enjoy doing things together.

Through our animal-assisted learning sessions at Penthwell Farm, I also get to see dogs work their magic in a completely different way — helping children feel safe, build confidence, communicate, problem-solve and connect. Sometimes the things a dog can teach simply by being a dog are pretty remarkable. 🥰

And then, of course, there are my own dogs. ❤️

Training partners, working dogs, farm companions, adventure buddies, hot-water bottles, professional snack detectors and very much part of our family.

Dogs give us so much — but they also rely on us to understand them, advocate for them and give them the opportunity to live lives that meet their needs too.

So today is definitely one worth celebrating.

Happy International Dog Day to all the wonderful dogs who share our lives. 🐾❤️

Give yours an extra cuddle, sniffy walk, game or treat from us today!

16/08/2026

WHAT. A. WEEKEND! 🤣💪🔥

We left the dogs at home for an extra snooze, donned our running shoes — or booties, for those of us blessed with size 3 feet 🤣 — and headed off to take on the 5km Tough Mudder

And what followed was 5km of swimming, crawling, jogging, balancing, climbing, slipping, sliding and laughing our way around the course.

The distance itself? No problem.
The obstacles? A whole different story. 😂

⚡ Electric shocks
🥶 Freezing, muddy water
😳 Heights
🫣 Barbed wire
🧗 Steep, slippery climbs
🌀 Rolling obstacles seemingly designed to remove every last scrap of dignity…

But that’s what makes Tough Mudder brilliant — some of those obstacles are only doable when you stop thinking about yourself and work as a team. A hand to pull you up, someone to give you a boost, encouragement when you’re hesitating… and plenty of laughing when it all goes spectacularly wrong. 🤣

And what an amazing team we had! ❤️

debuted last year, loved it so much she came straight back for more. Jill bravely joined us as a Tough Mudder newbie and absolutely smashed it. 💪

unfortunately had to sit this one out thanks to an injury, but apparently decided that if she couldn’t take part, she was going to become the world’s most enthusiastic cheerleader instead. 😂 Seriously, if you ever need someone shouting encouragement at you from the sidelines, Kirstie’s your woman!

And she brought the fabulous Tom along, who together with Kirstie captured some brilliant photos and videos — including, unfortunately, plenty of evidence of our finest moments. 🤣

Absolutely amazing day with an absolutely amazing bunch of people. I genuinely couldn’t have done some of those obstacles without you guys. ❤️

So obviously there’s only one sensible conclusion…

15km next year?! 😈💪

More distance. More obstacles. More mud. More questionable decisions.

Who’s joining us?! 😂

11/08/2026

☀️ It’s another hot week! ☀️

Temperatures are forecast to reach over 30°C, so we’ll be making a few changes to our training schedule this week.

🐾 Animal welfare is always our priority at Penthwell Dog Training, which means we’ll be rescheduling any sessions currently booked during the hottest hours of the day.

We’ll be starting our days earlier to fit as many of you in as possible. If an earlier time doesn’t work for you, don’t worry — we’ll simply rearrange your session for another date that suits you.

📩 If you have a booking with us this week, please check your emails (including junk!), WhatsApp messages and texts for updates.

If you haven’t heard from us or you’re unsure about your session, just get in touch.

📧 [email protected]

Keeping training fun, keeping dogs safe, and keeping everyone as cool as possible! 🐶☀️💦

☀️

10/08/2026

This 💯

Please be kind to your dog trainers/scentwork instructors and behaviourists this week. It’s the fourth round of heat related cancellations we are working our way through, putting dog and human welfare before anything else whilst nervously checking our bank balances. It’s highly stressful and the amount of admin which is generated as a result is a nightmare. Sending love to all who are in the same boat. 💜🐾

09/08/2026

🐾 HAPPY SUNDAY — BOOKINGS ARE NOW OPEN! 🐾

We’re super excited to have TWO brilliant courses coming up at the farm! 🌿🐶

🐕 YOUNG PAWS ACADEMY

Fun foundation training for puppies & teenage dogs

Perfect for giving your puppy the best start — or brushing up on those all-important foundations when the teenage brain suddenly kicks in! 😅

Young Paws Academy all about teaching real-life skills in a real-life environment.

Our training venue is a working farm — not a village hall. 🌿🐑

That means we can gradually introduce the sights, sounds, smells and everyday distractions dogs actually encounter out in the world, while helping them learn to listen, focus and make good choices.

We’ll work on practical skills including recall, loose-lead walking, focus, impulse control, calmness and good manners — building confidence and a great relationship between you and your dog along the way. 💚

🐶 INTRODUCTION TO SCENT DETECTION

Got a busy dog who always seems to need something to do?

Scent detection is a fantastic way to channel that energy into something they’re naturally brilliant at — sniffing!

Your dog will learn to search, problem-solve, work independently and focus, while you learn how to work together as a team.

✨ Brilliant mental enrichment
✨ Builds confidence, focus & teamwork
✨ Suitable for all breeds and abilities
✨ Dog-reactive dogs are very welcome — dogs work individually, so they don’t need to be comfortable working around other dogs
✨ And it’s ridiculously good fun for humans too!

Both courses are reward-based, supportive and taught in small groups at Penthwell Farm.

📅 Bookings are NOW OPEN!

Come and learn, have fun and build a brilliant partnership with your dog. 🐾💚

Young Paws Academy
6 week course
Start : 5 Sep 2026
🔗 https://www.penthwelldogtraining.co.uk/service-page/young-paws-academy-puppies-teens-2?referral=service_list_widget

Introduction to Scent Detection
Sniff & Seek
3 week course
Start : 5 Sep 2026
🔗 https://www.penthwelldogtraining.co.uk/service-page/sniff-and-seek-2?referral=service_list_widget

We look forward to meeting you and your dog!

📧 Any questions? Just email us to [email protected]

31/07/2026

Teenage dogs… full of enthusiasm, curiosity and sometimes a little bit of chaos! 💚

Joey is right in the middle of adolescence, and rather than trying to suppress those natural instincts, we’re teaching him how to use them in the right way.

Through fun, reward-based games we’re building:
🐾 Patience and impulse control
🐾 Manners around people and distractions
🐾 Focus and engagement
🐾 A reliable recall
🐾 Sit & stay
🐾 Retrieving and hunting skills

We’re not fighting what makes Joey a Labrador—we’re embracing it. By tapping into the behaviours he was bred to do, learning becomes enjoyable, meaningful and rewarding for both dog and handler.

Adolescent dogs can feel challenging at times, but they aren’t trying to make life difficult. They’re learning, developing and testing the world around them. With consistency, kindness and fair boundaries, they grow into incredible companions.

Training isn’t about perfection—it’s about building a relationship your dog wants to be part of. ❤️

20/07/2026

This weekend we travelled to Hampshire to from Happy Dog Training, searching woodlands , looking at Route Searches and how we can best cover these areas effectively and of course discount all those distractions that come with this environment!

Fantastic challenges for both dogs and handlers and Trudy & I had so much fun!

16/07/2026

Another fantastic day training with Corbinsbere Gundogs 🐾💙

Yesterday’s workshop focused on barriers and water. I was fairly confident Henry would cope with the barriers, but water has always been our biggest challenge.

We’ve put in so much time building his confidence. We started with a dog who wouldn’t go anywhere near the water. Then he learned to paddle. Eventually he would swim for a retrieve—but only if he could walk in first, and often only if I took those first few steps with him.

The progress has been slow, but every tiny win has mattered.

The last time we attended a water workshop, Henry couldn’t complete the water retrieves and another dog had to be sent for the dummy.

But not this time. ❤️

Today my brilliant boy was absolutely on fire! He tackled blinds, blinds over barriers, and water retrieves all by himself. Watching him confidently launch into tasks that once felt impossible was one of those moments that reminds you why patience and kind, consistent training are always worth it.

And of course, Trudy came along as chief spectator. She spent most of the day watching a field full of enthusiastic spaniels wondering what all the frantic running about was for… 🤣

Thankfully she wasn’t left out completely—she finished the day with a lovely blind retrieve in the lake, proving that she can still beat her brother!

I’m so proud of both of them, but especially Henry. Sometimes the biggest victories aren’t the fastest ones—they’re the ones you’ve worked hardest to earn. 💙🐾

Thank you Tracy for always supporting and teaching us both 🧡

13/07/2026

🐾 Huge congratulations to these three fantastic dog and handler teams on completing their Introduction to Scent Detection Course! 🎉

Over the past three weeks they’ve discovered that scent detection is so much more than teaching a dog to find a target odour. Together they’ve explored the incredible benefits of searching, how a dog’s amazing nose works, the science behind scent, and how scent work supports neurological development, confidence and everyday training.

They’ve learned how to:
🐶 Set up fun and successful searches
🐶 Read their dog’s body language and recognise changes of behaviour
🐶 Work as a true team, building communication, trust and confidence
🐶 Develop new skills together while having lots of fun along the way

It has been a pleasure watching every partnership grow in confidence and celebrate each success, no matter how big or small.

Well done to all three teams—you’ve done an amazing job! We can’t wait to see where your scent detection journey takes you next. 👏🐾